Great start for U.

So far, so good for the 19th-ranked Utes.

Alex Smith threw for 359 yards and three touchdowns and ran for two more scores as Utah opened the season with a 41-21 victory over Texas A&M at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

The game was played before a capacity crowd of 45,419 and a national television audience on ESPN.

"We just beat Texas A&M and that doesn't happen often at a school like Utah. A Mountain West team isn't supposed to beat a top-shelf Big 12 team," said Utah coach Urban Meyer. "So I'm very proud of our effort."

Running back Marty Johnson ran for a team-high 77 yards in his first game in nearly two years. He was pleased with how the Utes performed on both sides of the ball.

"On defense, if we can keep doing this we'll be tough to beat," he said. "And it's great to play with a quarterback like Alex. They can't really key on the run. They have to respect both games."

Smith set the pace offensively by completing 21-of-29 passes. Paris Warren led the Utes with seven catches.

"We played a good team on the road tonight," said Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione. "Alex Smith had a great game, and if he continues to play as well as he did tonight, Utah will be tough to beat."

Meyer's concern about weathering a first-half storm proved to be unfounded. Unlike last season's 28-26 loss in College Station, when Texas A&M jumped out to a 21-0 halftime lead, the Utes came out strong both offensively and defensively.

They held a 27-7 advantage at the break despite losing four contributors to injury — two, however, returned in the second half.

"I thought this would be the hardest 10 minutes we had ever gone through together," said Meyer.

Utah scored on its third play from scrimmage when quarterback Alex Smith teamed with wide receiver Steve Savoy on a 78-yard touchdown pass. The longest scoring play in the Meyer era capped a game-opening drive that took just 1:13 off the clock.

Early in the second quarter, after Utah's defense extended its streak to 11 shutout quarters over four games dating back to last November, the Utes doubled their lead.

One play after a 24-yard run by Smith, Savoy ran nine yards for a touchdown to make it 14-0.

It stayed that way for more than 7 1/2 minutes. That's when Utah reached the end zone for the third time. A sustained drive that covered 65 yards on seven plays, including a 45-yard pass to Travis LaTendresse, was concluded by a 7-yard TD run by Smith.